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Seth Godin

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The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) Kindle Edition

by Seth Godin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 6,041 ratings

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A New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller

In this iconic bestseller, popular business blogger and bestselling author Seth Godin proves that winners are really just the best quitters. Godin shows that winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt—until they commit to beating the right Dip.

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out fun…then gets really hard, and not much fun at all. You might be in a Dip—a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a Cul-de-Sac—a total dead end. What really sets superstars apart is the ability to tell the two apart.

Winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can beat the Dip to be the best, you’ll earn profits, glory, and long-term security.
Whether you’re an intern or a CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you’re in a Dip that’s worthy of your time, effort, and talents. The old saying is wrong—winners do quit, and quitters do win.

About the Author

Seth Godin is the author of more than a dozen bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, leadership, and change, including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars, Small is the New Big, The Dip, Tribes, Linchpin, and Poke the Box. He is also the founder and CEO of Squidoo.com and a very popular lecturer. He writes one of the most influential business blogs in the world at sethgodin.com. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Yet another easily digestible social marketplace commentary from the blogger/author who penned Purple Cow and Small is the New Big, Godin prescribes a cleverly counter-intuitive way to approach one's potential for success. Smart, honest, and refreshingly free of self-help posturing, this primer on winning-through-quitting is at once motivational and comically indifferent, making the lofty goal of "becoming the best in the world" an achievable proposition-all you need is to "start doing some quitting." The secret to "strategic quitting" is seeking, understanding and embracing "the Dip," "the long slog between starting and mastery" in which those without the determination or will find themselves burning out. As such, Godin demonstrates how to identify and quit your "Cul-de-Sac" and "Cliff" situations, in which no amount of work will lead to success. Godin provides tips for finding your Dip, taking advantage of it and becoming one of the few (inevitably valuable) players to emerge on the other side; he also provides guidelines for quitting with confidence. Quick, hilarious and happily irreverent, Godin's truth-that "we fail when we get distracted by tasks we don't have the guts to quit"-makes excellent sense of an often-difficult career move.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"A short read that should be on every entrepreneur's book list."—Entrepreneur.com

"Absolutely delightful, combining his wise aphorisms and anecdotes with Hugh MacLeod's darkly brilliant business-card cartoons."—Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Print length

97 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Portfolio
Publication date

May 10, 2007
Reading age

18 years and up
File size

844 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000QCSA54
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio (May 10, 2007)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 10, 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 844 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 97 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1591841666

Best Sellers Rank: #51,713 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #11 in Two-Hour Business & Money Short Reads
- #20 in Two-Hour Self-Help Short Reads
- #65 in Business Motivation & Self-Improvement (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 6,041 ratings

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Seth Godin

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Seth Godin is the author of 20 international bestsellers that have been translated into over 38 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. For a long time, Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

He worked as a year as the volunteer founding editor of The Carbon Almanac, and his recent bestsellers also include The Practice and This is Marketing.

He's a recent inductee to the Marketing Hall of Fame, and also a member of the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame and (go figure), the Guerrilla Marketing Hall of Fame.

His book, Tribes, was a nationwide bestseller, appearing on the Amazon, New York Times, BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. It's about the most powerful form of marketing--leadership--and how anyone can now become a leader, creating movements that matter.

His book Linchpin came out in 2008 and was the fastest-selling book of his career. Linchpin challenges you to stand up, do work that matters and race to the top instead of the bottom. More than that, though, the book outlines a massive change in our economy, a fundamental shift in what it means to have a job.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth was founder and CEO of Squidoo.com,. His blog (find it by typing "seth" into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.

He's known as a pioneer in online education, and was the founder of the altMBA.

You can find every single possible detail that anyone could ever want to know at sethgodin.com

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Grace A

This book challenges the status quo

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2023

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This book is quite engaging and helps one to see many different angles of a matter to evaluate whether or not it is time to quit. It helps us see we need to exert our energy and efforts in things that serve our purpose and we need to do our best. No more coping when clearly there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. No more mediocrity because we are scared to make the quitting decision. Am encouraged that I am great at something and I’m now equipped to know when it is time to quit!!!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2015

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A short read, but a very powerful read. Anything by Seth Godin has always turned out to be a treasure and in some aspect a life changer for me. I recently read another of his books The Dip which really gave a me a lot to think about. As always, I have purchased almost every single Seth Godin book and they are books that will never be discarded because they are the few books I read over and over.

Seth Godin takes on the topic of quitting and places the whole idea into a whole new perspective. There is always talk about failure and quitting on social media and in particular education. This book challenges many of the common ideas often discussed. Here are some of the key ideas that stood out to me in no particular order that will hopefully inspire you to read the book for yourself and provide some ideas for you to think about.

1. Never quitting is bad advice. Right from the start he argues one of the most common ideas quoted time and time again. He says that the quote from Vince Lombardi, “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” is bad advice. Instead he claims that winners “quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.”

2. Zipf’s Law – This law is mentioned in the book so I had to look it up on wikipedia. I am instantly fascinated by this concept where we basically love winners. Not just winners, but the whole idea that frequency is key. When something wins it usually wins big. Think about the popular records, box office, tv shows, books, etc. The top of the top sell more than anyone else. You could be 2nd or third, but end up way behind. Now that I aware of this law I start to notice it time and time again.

3. Well Rounded is Bad Advice – Anytime education is challenged my ears perk up. Seth states, “Just about everything you learned in school about life is wrong, but the wrongest thing might very well be this: Being well rounded is the secret to success.” I have to agree 100%. I shared this graphic a few posts back and also here specifically about this topic so reading this book after further cemented my beliefs.

Who are You-

4. The Cul-De-Sac

I love this thought. I really do. And I think it is the state of education. Basically it means a “situation where you work and you work and nothing much changes. It doesn’t get a lot better, it doesn’t get a lot worse. It just is.” Not only is this happening in education, but it happens in our own personal lives. This idea seems so simple and yet I keep going back to it. I think it goes much deeper once you move past the surface of simply a definition. Sometimes we have to get on the highway….(my new idea developing from this neighborhood metaphor)

5. I think that the reason many live in a cul-de-sac is because it is easy to be mediocre. It is easy to blend in. Quitting is hard because you must admit that you are not number one. This is tough for many of us. We don’t like to admit these type of things so we will continue to do things just so we are not quitters. Our society has pushed our thinking to believe that quitting is bad.

6. The key to quitting is understanding The Dip. We must learn when to quit. We don’t want to quit at the wrong time. We have to realize that the systems in place want us to quit. They operate on us quitting. If we can push past the dip and not quit, then we hit the results of being number one. We breakthrough and hit new levels of success that cannot we believe we can achieve. What is the dip? Well, read the book!

7. The one idea that makes sense, but I struggle with agreeing with is if we are going to quit we must quit before we start. If we cannot be the best in the world he suggests we don’t even try. I don’t know how I feel about that. I think we have to shoot for the stars sometimes. Perhaps I must define what it means to be the best in the world. Does this mean I must be an Olympian in running? No, I think he is going after something much grander in concept, but it is important to at least think about the message. When thinking about quitting we have to think about…….

8. Two Choices – Don’t be average. If you find yourself being average you must make a decision. Either you quit or be exceptional. “Average is for losers”. This is a tough pill to swallow, but a necessary one. I think about my life and things that I want to fix. If I quit the things that are just average in my life due to average work and commitment I could really push some elements to be exceptional by freeing up time and energy spent on doing things average in my life in the cul-de-sac. This idea is one that has hit home with me and is really forcing me to think through things deeply.

Those are just a few ideas that really stood out to me when I finished the book. I have many more passages highlighted, but if I shared everything then what would be the point to read the book? This book packs a lot in 80 pages, but that is what Seth Godin does.

If you are interested in his other books here are the others I have read and recommend.

My favorite book of his so far. I have read this one many times! Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin http://amzn.to/1IxiiLK

Oh man, this one is so good also! Purple Cow by Seth Godin http://amzn.to/1IxilYa

Poke the Box by Seth Godin http://amzn.to/1JFluKL

48 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

great 2x read

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023

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I often struggle to say no (quit before you start). This was helpful. If you read it, you should read it again. It is short enough.

2 people found this helpful

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Robin Landry

Short and sweet and wise

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2018

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I found this book interesting, and helpful, but it was simplistic for those who need more depth in how to either move on--or never give up, in whatever project they are working on. It's writing a novel, the beginning is fun, and even if you already have the end written, it's the endless middle that separates the bestselling authors from the 'wanna-bes'. Even as writer, you have to know when it's not working--when you're the one who's bored with your character and it's time to give up and not waste any more time on the project.
This would be a great book to learn in say--middle school when it would do you some serious good while making your way through the rigors of an education. Schools mostly teach us to get slough it out for the grade no matter what--which can be good in school, but a disaster when you're sticking with a dead-end job for the health insurance. And horrible to wake up retired with all of your passion spent someone else's dream.
Godin talked about the Dip keeping out the weak-willed so that those who make it are rewarded because of their scarcity. Good words.
Godin talks about how a person would have to give up a decade of their life to their goal--without the distractions of a 'balanced' life. You can't have it all unless you've convinced someone else to give up their dreams to help them realize yours. That role was once relegated to wives, who raised children allowing husbands to dedicate themselves to their job/passion unhindered by the daily druggery of life.
The Dip reminds me of Jospeh Campbell's work, The Hero's Journey. At each door of the journey, the hero must walk through a door guarded by a guardian who embodies what the hero fears most of all. It's all about working through your fears--including the dark night of the soul--in order to finish the journey. The Dip appears to the 'dark night of the soul', your deepest fear, and it's the reason most people prefer to settle, because what's inside of us is the scariest journey of all.

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Gabriel Magri

Short and right to the point

Reviewed in Brazil on August 15, 2023

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The dip opens your mind to things that you’re already aware of but choose not to because it is easier.
It makes you start to question almost everything you are currently “committed” to, searching if there is a dip that you are able to go throw and get the benefits awaiting the other side.
It is definitely not a cheap advice on how to win easy, actually it shows you that winning big is really hard and requires a lot of hard work and commitment, just as it requires you to consciously let go things that you may not be willing to. After all, it is hard to be the best in the world, right?

Carl Pinsonnault

Très pertinent

Reviewed in Canada on July 28, 2023

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Excellent livre facile à lire et très court mais explique très bien le principe du "DIP". Je recommande fortement à qui cherche à s'améliorer à tous les jours. Bonne lecture.

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Michael

absolute must read for all entrepreneurs, creators and sportspeople

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2024

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Such an important book. It is one of those books that basically makes the point it tells you in the title. BUT it makes the point in a lucid, persuasive and intelligent way. I think this is a very important book for anyone ambitious to read.

Lubos

Great book!

Reviewed in Germany on December 26, 2023

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Useful and true!

Pradeep,Tcr

Insightful

Reviewed in India on August 8, 2023

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This is an extraordinary small book with a lot of insights. The best advice I got was either to be the best in my industry or not to start at all. Being average is a curse! Thank you Seth. I finished this book in one sitting

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